Astrid Fraser has been looking for her soulmate since she received her soul mark at 10. After 18 years, she began thinking she'd never find him... until fate decided to step in.
Will he accept her knowing that she is different?
Will he accept her...
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4 March 2023
"T-tell me again what he s-said," Astrid's panic-stricken voice filled the car as I navigated our way back home. After hearing that Sophie was in the hospital, appa had shoved his keys into my hands and pushed us both out of the front door, promising that they would collect our things from the hotel before they made the trip up to Seoul themselves.
"Apparently, last night Soph wasn't feeling very well. She threw up just before bed, but they all thought it was from the ice-cream sundae party they had."
When I first heard that Tae and Hobi had fed my daughter loads of sugar just before bed, I wanted to throttle my two knuckle-head brothers; but then I thought about it and I would have probably done the same thing just to see my niece happy if I was in their shoes.
"But then this morning she spiked a fever and collapsed when she tried to walk to the downstairs bathroom. Just to be careful, Jimin phoned our company physician, who said to take her to the hospital."
Not knowing what to say, Astrid and I fell into a nervous silence. The feeling of my soulmate's hand in mine grounded my thoughts from going to the worst case scenario. I'm not a religious person, but I sent silent prayers to any deity that might listen. They helped Astrid when I prayed in her hospital room, so I hoped they could also help my princess.
The sound of rain falling onto the vehicle, the swooshing of the windshield wipers and the wind howling around us became our music. Normally HYBE would have organised for a helicopter to bring Astrid and I home, but of course it had to be a day of atrocious weather in Seoul, so it would have been too dangerous to land. Instead, the two of us were driving back, admittedly a little over the speed limit.
About an hour into our car ride, my phone lit up again. Linked into the car's Bluetooth, we both listened to the updates on our daughter's condition. It went from bad to worse – Sophie was not sick from eating too much ice-cream, she was suffering from appendicitis.
"Hyung, the doctor says he needs consent for the surgery." I could hear the panic and stress in my brother's voice. "How far away are you?"
Astrid looked at the GPS on her phone, whimpering when she said we were still another 90 minutes away.
Rustling could be heard from the other end of the line, then a voice I didn't recognise started speaking. "Mr Min, Miss Fraser, I am the doctor in charge of your daughter's care. Your daughter is very sick right now. She has acute appendicitis, which means that it is a severe case and could rupture at any moment. Sophie needs emergency surgery to save her life. Any delays to the surgery could put her survival in jeopardy."
I swore under my breath, frustrated that I couldn't do anything other than navigate the wet roads on the drive home. "Is Jimin able to give consent?" Astrid enquired, squeezing my hand.
"I'm sorry but no. He is not a parent or guardian. Only you or Mr Min can do so since you are Sophie's legal parents." I heard muffled voices, one of which being Joon's, talking quietly for a few moments. "Mr Min, the hospital administrator has given us permission to get verbal consent for the surgery, but I need to confirm it is in fact you that I am talking to. Do I have your permission to change this to a video call so I can ascertain that I am talking to Min Yoongi and Astrid Fraser?"
